Company Special: Adisseo's French workers give back

As Cyril Alves left for his home country France in late February, the 39-year-old technician at Adisseo Nanjing said his heart became heavy at the thought of the children he and his colleagues helped in northern Jiangsu province.

Alves said the story started when he and six other foreign employees at the company under China's chemical giant Bluestar enrolled their names in a marathon race in neighboring Shanghai in December.

Learning of their enrolment, the company's General Manager Vincent Deperrois - also a French national - came up with an idea to help tide poor children over the damp and cold winter through the race because there is not a uniform heating system in a large part of the province.